Norms of Interaction in a Japanese Homestay Setting: Toward a Two-Way Flow of Linguistic and Cultural Resources

It is often claimed that ‘the only way that students ever acquire functional language ability, at least at advanced levels, is during study abroad’ (Miller & Ginsberg, 1995: 393). Indeed the intuitively positive effect of study abroad on second language acquisition has attracted the attention of scholars involved in language education (e.g. Barron, 2003; Brecht & Davidson, 1992; Churchill, 2003c; DeKeyser, 1986, 1990; DuFon, 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2003; Freed, 1990b, 1995b; Ginsberg et al., 1992; Makino, 1995; Pellegrino, 1998; Siegal, 1995a, 1995b, 1996; Spada, 1985, 1986; Wilkinson, 1995, 1998b, 2002; Yamamoto, 1995), particularly because of the social interactions that occur outside the classroom. Recently, researchers have conducted various types of research to investigate exactly what, in these outside-of-the-classroom situations, the participants are experiencing (e.g. Cook, this volume; Churchill, 2003c; DuFon, 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2003, this volume; Hassall, this volume; Iino, 1993, 1996; Knight & Schmidt-Rinehart, 2002; McMeekin, this volume; Siegal, 1995a, 1995b, 1996; Wilkinson, 1995, 1998b, 2002).1